Jubilee Junior Hockey League season began on the same day and the same matchup as it did nine years ago. Krasnaya Armiya Moscow and JHC Dynamo Moscow once again hit the ice at CSKA Arena on September 4th. The history repeated itself but the end result was different – this time the ‘army men’ came out on top.Krasnaya Armiya Moscow – JHC Dynamo Moscow – 5-3 (0-0 3-1 2-2)
Kharlamov Jr. and Radulov Jr.

Pompous opening ceremony took place before the game. It featured such honorable guests as Junior Hockey League managing director Alexei Morozov, HC CSKA sports director deputy Alexander Kharlamov and 2-time world champion and Gagarin Cup champion Alexander Radulov.

The guests participated in ceremonial puckdrop. Alexander Radulov’s son, Makar, dropped the puck while being held up by his father.

Scoreless first

First period treated the fans to a dynamic hockey and Dynamo players created more scoring chances. Seven minutes into the game they got a 2-man advantage as Nikita Rtischev and Nikita Solopanov got a minor penalty each. However, Artyom Korepanov stood his ground and Krasnaya Armiya survived. Dimitry Rayko also had to make a few good saves. Dynamo also played shorthanded but they were down just by a player for two minutes. Neither team could find the back of the net in the opening period of play.

However, early in the 2nd frame Dynamo, just like nine years ago, opened up the scoring. Home team had to pay to Yegor Korbit’s penalty – Bogdan Trineyev scored the first goal of the new season. Krasnaya Armiya pulled back even 28 minutes in – Lev Komissarov beat Dimiry Rayko from in tight. The game calmed down after the teams traded goals but the red-and-blue got in the lead as they scored in 4-on-4 situation. Nikita Olegovich Popugayev (both Nikita Popugayevs played for the home team that night) stole the puck from a defenseman and sent it past Rayko to make it 2-1.
Nikita Andreyevich Popugayev followed his namesake’s footsteps and also got a goal 38 minutes in. Nikita Olegovich picked up an assist on that play and the fans went crazy as it was announced by PA. Krasnaya Armiya had a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.

Revenge nine years later

Early in the 3rd period Dynamo got another one past Korepanov but the goal was waved off after video review as there was high-sticking on the play. Krasnaya Armiya decided to simply their game after that, although they did have their chances to score another goal. Yegor Filin had the best opportunity as got in on a breakaway. Notably, his team was shorthanded at the time. Rayko stopped Filin’s shot but the latter made up for it a little later. At 53-51 ‘army men’ got in on a quick counter-attack and Filin made it 4-1.

Dynamo did score another goal – Mark Katsevich had the quickest hands in the slot and chipped it over Korepanov, who was already flat down on the ice. Late in the game Nikita Olegovich Popugayev got a minor penalty and with less than a minute remaining on the clock Dmitry Grischenko beat Korepanov with a howitzer of a shot from the blue line. Dynamo pulled their goaltender for the extra-attacker but they turned the puck over in the offensive end and Yegor korbit got to score on the empty net.

Krasnaya Armiya win the season-opener 5-3 to kick of the jubilee Junior Hockey league season.

“We have created trouble for ourselves but it’s always great to win. It’s good that we could pull it off. We were very focused today. The boys were a bit uptight in the first period. After all it was the first game of the season, there were a lot of fans, they got a little nervous and ran into a penalty problem. Late in the game we lost concentration. But that’s just what junior hockey is like. You can be up 3-0 and then trail behind just two minutes later. There were a lot of fans tonight at the game and I want to thank them for their support.”

“It was an uneven game,” said JHC Dynamo Moscow head-coach Alexander Zhurik. “We got off to a decent start but then made childlike mistakes in the second period and Krasnaya Armiya grabbed the momentum. After that it was difficult to catch up to them. It looked like we got pumped in the third frame, regained our strength, changed the course of the game but came up just short in the end. Obviously, you could feel that the players missed hockey in the summer. We have got a lot of young players, who are in their rookie Junior Hockey League season. They were nervous at first but then they got into it. Our main goal is to make the playoffs. It doesn’t suit Dynamo to stay out of cup contention for so long.”

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